Hill family disrespected by partisan political group

I do not who “they” are, but “they” do say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Normally, I would not quibble with that logic, but it seems that here in Macomb County, imitation can be downright ugly.

I am referring to efforts to copycat recognition of a local public servant, a man who spent more than 40 years contributing to the enrichment of our county. That man is Bobby Hill, and the rogue imitator is none less than the “Official Democratic Black Caucus of Macomb.” In fact, that caucus is in itself a replica of another organization.

As background, the Macomb County Democratic Black Caucus was formed (by me) in 2006. Democratic National Committeewoman Virgie Rollins attended and helped celebrate the group’s formation. We helped kick off President Obama’s campaign efforts in Novi, and we worked Obama’s first Michigan fundraiser at Rollins’ house.

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We also spent a great deal of time educating people about the chair of the Macomb County Democratic Party. We worked the districts down at the nominating convention at Cobo Hall, passing along a perspective that some found shocking, while others sensed confirmation of duplicitousness when it came to empowering local people of color. Not that he is any kind of racist, but he does know how to use them as political fodder and pawns in his power-broker games. He lost his bid for election.

Several months later, and perhaps as retribution, he organizes his very own black caucus, with hand-picked locals who drink partisan Kool-Aid. They went as far as to list themselves as my caucus to the extent that I had to contact the Mount Clemens Public Library to have the named changed on the marquis in the library lobby to their own.

Problem solved, right? Nope.

This group got wind of a project in its planning stage and tried to pre-empt the project by trying to get the exclusive rights to Bobby Hill’s legacy. They floated only parts of the idea to his relatives, who required additional information to decide whether they would lend Mr. Hill’s name to a partisan celebration of Black History month.

However, before the matter was discussed again, this group went hog-wild planning a dinner well before they got the family’s permission. They even went so far as to post the event, using his name on the web.

After posting the event, then came a letter to the family, revealing their real intent. They wanted exclusive rights to Mr. Hill’s likeness and his legacy.

Mr. Hill wasn’t for sale when he was alive, and there was no way his legacy would be sold after he transitioned. The family demanded his name be taken off advertising for the event and, further, that they want his likeness removed from any materials advertising the event.

Well, they are a resilient group. The flyer has been changed, but as of the writing of this column, the dinner is still listed on the website as the “Bobby Hill Scholarship Dinner”, a clear dissing of the Hill family’s request.

Sure, it’s been toned down a little, but the rank arrogance displayed by this group is what is most troubling. This display of nuancing is offensive and not just to the family, which is not participating in the besmirching of their father’s name or legacy.

Now wait, you say, how can you complain about someone recognizing the contribution of a local leader? The answer: if the family does not want his name or image used to raise funds for a partisan political organization, the honorable thing to do is to just find someone else to raise money off of.

This event will go on as planned. The group’s treasury will be enriched. They will provide a few scholarships to area children.

Mr. Hill would have a problem making money off his name without his and his family’s permission. That’s not to say he was totally opposed to the idea. He did give permission to the Macomb County Ministerial Alliance to develop scholarships in his name. After discussing the idea further, Mr. Hill asked that the MCMA instead feed the homeless during MCREST’s winter shelter program.

Later this month, I will be disbanding the Macomb County Democratic Black Caucus. We have matured enough now to know what must be focused now on are mutual interests, and not ethnic or political identifiers that only serve to divide us.

Stay tuned.

Gregory Murray is a Clinton Township activist who can be reached at gahmurray@gmail.com